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As the payments industry continues to diversify and upgrade the quality of terminals used by merchant account holders, it’s common for one terminal to accept a number of different payment options. That requires a variety of authorized software and applications to co-exist on one terminal so a merchant account can manage diverse payments. However, it may also leave terminals at risk.
Why Point of Sale Terminals are At Risk
In a competitive world, sometimes consumers change their minds and want to break an agreement to work with another vendor. Although you might not be able to convince them to stay with you outright, it makes sense to put measures in place that prevent someone from converting a terminal you have installed, or from installing a “rogue” application that captures cardholder data or performs other illegal functions.
Requirements and Protection for POS Terminals
According to Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards, any programs that requires input of non-PIN data (mainly applications) must have a mechanism in place to review those applications and ensure they are not falsely promoting for PIN numbers. In addition, the system must allow only “approved” applications to reside and execute on a terminal. This means measures put in place to protect terminals from malware also help prevent unauthorized configuration of devices by other providers.
How this Helps Your Business
As a result, a customer has to relinquish all hardware and services to go with another provider, which may seem like a hassle and encourage them to remain with a current merchant account. It also means competitors cannot switch existing terminals or services without authorization.
If a merchant requests a change, you can remotely supply the reset mechanism to allow a new payment processor to load their software. Ensure there is an authentic digital certificate on your terminal, and require the new payment processor to contact you for it prior to authorization. This approach presents you with one more opportunity retain a client, helps you maintain stronger control over your merchandise, and allows a graceful end to the customer relationship.
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